91 



sunset ; all cultivators of such crops must carry out the instructions 

 issued for the control of /. capitella and Abraxas grossiilariafa, which 

 will be published on 1st December in each year ; if the orders are not 

 obeyed, the work may be done by the authorities and charged to the 

 owner ; refusal may be punished by fine or imprisonment ; the details 

 of the methods to be used will be published at least a month before 

 they are required to be carried out. 



Jepson (F, p.). Report of the Entomologist. — Dept. Agric, Fiji, Ann. 

 Rept.for the year 1914, Suva, 6th May 1915, pp. 17-27. [Received 

 7th January 1916.] 



Bananas in Fiji are attacked by the Coccids, Aspidiotus destructor, 

 A. aurantii, A. dictyospermi, A. cyafiophylU, A. excisus, A. transparens, 

 A. lataniae, A. palmae, Hemichionaspis aspidistras, and H. minor. 

 The scales appear to be less abundant during the summer than at other 

 times, isolated females only being present. Thorough spraying at 

 this time should prevent these from giving rise to new colonies. 

 Bananas from scale-infested districts were fumigated for three hours 

 with hydrocyanic acid gas before shipment to Australia. The scale- 

 cides in common use in Fiji are kerosene emulsion and lime-sulphur 

 wash. Cosmopolites sordidus (banana borer) was less abundant than 

 in previous years, especially in districts in which predaceous Histerid 

 beetles from Java [Plaesius javamis) had been estabhshed. 



Coconuts on Vitilevu were attacked by Levuana iridescens (coconut 

 leaf-moth). Preliminary experiments in the control of this insect on 

 mature trees showed that it was impossible to reach the top of the 

 trees with ordinary spraying apparatus. Young trees sprayed with 

 lead arsenate were freed from the larvae. The application was 

 repeated five weeks later, allowing 30 oz. lead arsenate to 25 gals, 

 water ; each tree required about 4 gals, of the solution. Attempts 

 to control the larvae by smoking them with long torches, a method 

 adopted in Malaya, were unsuccessful. A fungus, Botrytis necans, 

 which destroys the larvae of Brachartona catoxantha on coconuts in 

 the Straits Settlements, was imported from Singapore with the object 

 of testing its effect on L. iridescens. Trachycentra sp. (a boring moth) 

 was associated with a certain amount of damage to coconuts, young 

 trees being especially subject to attack. Larvae were found in the heart 

 leaves and in the bases of the leaf-stalks of a three-year-old specimen. 

 It is beheved that the death of many trees is due to "bud-rot," 

 bacterial or fungoid, and that the decomposed heart induces ovipo- 

 sition by flies and moths, including Trachycentra sp. Rhabdocnemis 

 [Sphenophorus) obscurus (sugar-cane borer) caused slight damage to 

 young trees by boring into the woody base of the leaf-stalk. This 

 beetle probably never attacks healthy trees and some other cause of 

 injury must be sought for. If affected trees show no hope of recovery, 

 the best plan is to'burn them. This beetle is primarily a sugar-cane 

 pest and will not attack coconut if sugar-cane is available. Pseudo- 

 coccus pandani was observed on a young tree. The heart leaves were 

 heavily infested and gummed together by excreta and honey-dew. 

 The insects may be destroyed by placing a handful of salt in the crown 

 of infested trees, or by pouring in salt solution or sea-water. 

 (C243) a2 



